NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion Lacrosse fell 21-3 to South Florida on Saturday afternoon at the L.R. Hill Sports Complex.
"That level of competition is the bar in the AAC," Head Coach Theresa Walton said. "When you’re the underdog like we are, you have to play as close to perfect as possible and match that execution with hustle plays. We had little of both today, execution and hustle. The few times when both offensively and defensively that we played to the game plan, good things happened. But games aren’t won in a couple of plays let alone the ability to stay in a game. Cards stilled killed us. Proud of how our young goalies with Ava Salinas and Josie Bahr saw action today and stepped up, along with great support in Brynn Bowen from the sideline when their moments came."
The Bulls (7-2, 3-0 American) were first on the board and quickly built a lead, scoring six unanswered goals in the first quarter. Kali Cleary opened the scoring, followed by Avery Graham off a pass from Maggie Newton. Sofia Chepenik, Newton, Cleary again, and Julia Huxtable each added goals to give USF a 6-0 advantage at the end of the first.
To open the second quarter, Newton scored her second goal of the day to extend the lead to 7-0. Old Dominion (5-8, 0-3 American) got on the board with goals from Sylvia Mayo and Natalie Calandra-Ryan to make it 7-2. USF responded with goals from Ava Uphues and Chepenik before closing the half on a three-goal run from Kaitlyn Tartaglione, Chepenik, and Newton to take a 12-2 lead into halftime.
After the break, Chepenik opened the scoring for USF. The Bulls continued their momentum with a five-goal run, with goals from Cleary, Tartaglione, Chepenik, Newton, and Huxtable, extending the lead to 18-2.
In the final quarter, USF added two early goals from Webster and Elle Trzaskawka to make it 20-2. The Monarchs broke through with a goal from Julia Butler, but Tartaglione added her third goal of the day to close out the 21-3 final.
The Bulls controlled the statsheet, outshooting the Monarchs 36–7 while also holding advantages in ground balls 14–7, and draw controls 16–10. USF goalkeeper Natalie Eastwood recorded four saves, while ODU’s Bowen finished with nine.
UP NEXT
The Monarchs hit the road for another American Conference matchup as they travel to Philadelphia to face Temple next Saturday, April 4 at Howarth Field. The opening draw is scheduled for noon.